Bumps, Bruises, and Everything In Between
by Monkey D. Anea
Summary: Chopper's ears twitch, making him pause in his medical supplies check at the reminder of a black feather he found under his captains pillow- he wonders if it's going to rain. (And if Luffy's seen Law lately.) Slight Luffy/Law, Law/Luffy.
Everyone of his nakama have a distinct scent: Nami smells tangy and like ink on paper; Robin smells like perfume and the crisp smell of pages in a book; Luffy smells like sea salt, sweat, rubber and meat; Zoro has the distinct smell of blood and metal with the ocean's spray; Brook smells like the polish from his instruments -and strangely, a type of flower that Chopper doesn't know the name of-; Franky smells like cola, oil, and metal; Sanji smells like cigarette smoke and spices; Usopp smells like almonds, gunpowder, and sea salt. But Law has different scents that differ and are like Chopper's nakama.

Law smells like books, (like Robin) the sea, like all of them (his captain has the strongest scent of the sea), like medical supplies (like Chopper himself), like sword polish and blood (like Zoro), like the scent of air dried clothes, and he sometimes smells like smoke (like Sanji) but a different brand, and the scent smells like it was first there months or weeks before but he also smells like Luffy. And -though Chopper's hesitant to admit this- he's smelled the distinct scent of arousal (not sexual intercourse) on both Luffy and Law, at the same time, and that type of scent can fade and appear at the oddest of times, (like when Torao watched Captain punch that one strange guy that tried to board the ship by giving a 'favor' to him) even if only those with a strong sense of smell can notice.

(Or if someone can notice things like Robin and Sanji.)

But the odd thing is, even when his captain and ally don't do anything that causes their scents to mingle (a hug, brushing shoulders) a rarity, trust the little doctor. The two are always near one another. Law always has the scent of Luffy on him, more so than Zoro does.

Which is strange, considering both his captain and Law don't always get to meet up with each other. But Chopper knows that it's best not to think about things when it comes to his ally and captain.

(And because he doesn't always have time to stand around and think about things in general, other than medicine and how to stop bleeding, internally and externally.)

"Oi! Chopper!" the little reindeer's ears twitch, his big brown eyes darting from his book to the infirmary door, hearing the shout from down the hall.

(See? No time to think.)

"Chopper! Torao's huuurrrt!" booms his captains voice, footsteps rapidly approaching. Hurt? His heart jumps, eyes growing wide that Torao-kun's hurt.

Law's hurt.

"Idiot!" a distinct thump follows, softer footsteps stopping with the slapping ones, and Chopper's brows furrow at his ally's voice, who sounds perfectly fine.

"But Torao!~" his captain's voice whines -Chopper can tell that he's pouting- before the slight scent of blood reaches the little doctors nose, it's not enough to even be slightly serious.

But, as a doctor, he knows that even the slightest wounds can be dangerous.

"It's just a paper cut, Straw Hat." Chopper's heart slows, a sigh of relief almost ghosting over his lips.

"Bu-"

"Nothing serious, Straw-Hatter. I've suffered more damaging attacks than from a piece of paper." Law sighs, sounding exasperated, as if he's dealing with a small child.

It's left in silence in the hall, Chopper's ears twitching for any noise, his captain seeming to mull over their ally's response.

"Still," Luffy says after a moment of silence, Chopper knows that he's pouting again. "Torao needs to have it looked at." Law doesn't say anything for a few minutes, before he sighs, sounding resigned and more than a little annoyed.

"Fine, Straw-Hatter. If it will get you to leave me in peace, I will." Chopper waits for his captain to say something, but instead, he hears a snicker.

"Whatever you say, Torao."

Chopper waits for the impending doom about to befall his infirmary door. Instead, he hears his captain's distinct sandal slaps, but not in a run, and Law's softer footsteps.

Then the door slams open -not off its hinges almost, like usual- but like someone pushed it open in excitement. "Choopppeerr!" the reindeer jumps, narrowing his eyes at the sight of his exuberant captain's grinning face and his ally's annoyed one.

"What's wrong with you! You idiot! You scared me half to death thinking that Torao was hurt!" Chopper shouts at his captain who grins and rubs the back of his neck 'apologizing.' Law sighs after a few minutes of watching his allies idiocy.

"Raccoon-ya-"

"I'M NOT A RACCOON! How many times do I-!" Chopper argues.

"- Straw-Hatter's not going to leave me alone until I let you explain to him that-" Law narrows his eyes at his grinning ally, _"it's just a paper cut_."

Chopper pauses before taking his ally's hand, "It's the other one." Luffy pipes in from the side. Law scowls at his fellow pirate captain while the reindeer doctor examines the correct hand.

"How can you pay attention to a paper cut, but not to planning the _downfall of an emperor!_ "

"Shishishi!~ Traffy's plannings boring!"

Chopper applies some alcohol to the small crease on his ally's pointer finger as the two continue to bicker with each other. It reminds him of Sanji and Zoro, but without the spars and insults.

"It's not suppose to be fun, Straw Hat."

"But Torao likes to plan."

"-!"

"Hold still, Torao!" Chopper snaps as the older male bonks Luffy on the head with his nodachi, Kikoku, effectively disrupting the bandaging process.

Chopper focuses back on the small cut, hearing his captain snicker.

"Torao got in trouble."

Law scowls at Luffy while Chopper focuses on carefully placing the band-aid on the slightly scarred, tan and slender finger.

"Idiot."

"All done!" the two stop their bickering to glance down at the now bandaged finger. Chopper admires his work with a smile, even if the cut didn't need much treatment.

"See Torao! Told ya Chopper could fix it." Luffy declares, grinning brightly with his fists on his hips. Law narrows his eyes at the teen before meeting Chopper's chocolate brown eyes.

"Thank you, Tony-ya." The morbid man says with a slight nod.

Chopper's cheeks flush at the compliment, he knows he needs to act professional, but-

"You bastard! That doesn't make me happy!~" the reindeer shouts, dancing in joy as the two leave, his captain laughing and ally scowling. Later on, he will remember a red piece of fabric torn from his captain's shirt -but not the one he was wearing- sewn into the lining of the dark surgeon's trench coat sleeve.

(And that if he looks under his captain's pillow at night, that he would find a familiar black feather.)

It doesn't explain how they carry each others scent, so Chopper still wonders quietly to himself. Whenever he can, anyway.

("Chopppeerr! Zoro's bleeding! Not that Usopp-sama's afrai-"

See what he means?)

* * *

It's at a party that they have when they reach Zou, that Chopper starts to put the pieces in place as to why his captain and ally carry one another's scent.

The party was in full swing, Zoro and Nami were having a drinking contest with some of the islands natives while Sanji fawned over the ladies in the tribe and Usopp told stories by the fire to the interested islanders as Franky entertained the children minks and Robin smiled behind her hand at his antics. Chopper found himself watching his morbid ally conversing with the chief that tried to make him join in on the party to no avail- it didn't surprise the little doctor considering their ally's behavior.

The stars were really pretty above them and the large fire in the center of the party kept away the cold, but he focused mainly on his ally as he tried to solve the puzzle that's bugged him for weeks.

He tried to ask Robin, but she smiled behind her hand and told him: 'Don't worry, Chopper'. The little reindeer even thought about asking Zoro, but when he did, Zoro grinned and Nami bonked him on the head before he could answer.

A familiar laugh caused Chopper's eyes to grow wide and gaze to snap up from the ground. His captain's attention was on Torao by the way he swung a rubbery arm around the taller man's shoulders and singsonged the others name with meat sticking out of his pockets and sake in hand.

The reindeer watched how Law scowled but didn't try to push his captain away, even when Luffy caused some of his sake to spill from the red cup he had it in. Luffy didn't recognized what he had did, and continued to pester the morbid man who seem to retort -Chopper couldn't hear over the cheers, laughs, and crackles of wood from the fire, not mentioning the strong stench of alcohol (booze, as Zoro likes to call it) and the smell of food Sanji made for the feast, filling his senses- that made his captain laugh louder and rope himself impossibly closer.

"They really are something, huh?" Chopper's wide eyes met Shachi -one of Law's crew members- own.

The redheaded man's lips twitched in a small smile while he gestured to the two pirate captains. Chopper's eyes settled back on the pair. It was quiet between them as they watched their captains converse, Luffy tugging excessively on Law's arm who scowled, but Chopper caught the slight lip twitch and the calmness surrounding him.

"I've never seen Captain this happy." The redheaded man admitted, Chopper glanced at him. "Straw Hat makes him happy. I don't know how, but he does."

Shachi tore his gaze away from the pair, smile wider as he looked down at Chopper. "Your captain's got the crews approval." He quirked his head, his hair brushing against his eyes "How about ours?"

Chopper's mouth fell open before he nodded quietly, eyes staring straight at his fellow ally's own.

"Good," Shachi said after a moment, bringing his cup to his lips as he settled his eyes on the pair now sitting beside each other to themselves, away from the rest of the party slightly. "Penguin and Bepo will be relieved, not to mention Jean Bart." Chopper watches the strange man who chuckles slightly.

"We all kinda seen it comin' when Captain had a bright red vest tucked under his pillow." Shachi says absently, smiling as he scratches his chin. "It also smelled just like Straw Hat." He looked back down at Chopper who wondered how he woul- _"Marineford"_ his mind whispers- "Go figure."

Chopper stared at his captain and ally interact, remembering when Nami did the laundry that she came up one shirt less from his captain's pile. "But," the man continued, "Captain also came up one hoodie short when Jean Bart did the laundry." Chopper's eyes widened.

Shachi rubbed the back of his neck, "That's when we knew that the captain's affections weren't one-sided." Chopper watched as the man's gaze turned fond as he watched their captains interact. "Still, we worried about Straw Hat's intentions, but we trusted our captain. But being his crew, we couldn't just stand back and let our captain get his heart broken." Shachi's eyes met Chopper's own. "Your captain didn't let us down," his smile crinkled his eyes, "so thanks for that."

Before Chopper could respond, another crew mate was calling the strange man away. His gaze settled back on his captain and ally, smiling as his captain laughed and Law smirked, shoulder to shoulder, hunkered under a tree.

At least he learned why they smell like one another now.

(As long as his captain's happy.)

(Now, onto why Law's face gets red when Captain cuddles with him...)


End file.
